Steve Wilson posted on August 25, 2010 15:47
Continuing with some of the information I learned at the Non-Transient, Non-Community Recertification Workshop in Illinois a few weeks ago, one of the things that really stuck with me was, "Always ask why". You really need to know how it works and what the consequences are of any task you perform with your system.
Operators Are An Independent Bunch
By the nature of their jobs and responsibilities, operators are independent and are used to solving problems by themselves or in non-traditional ways. They do what they need to, to keep things running and do so typically with limited resources. Sometimes though, that personality can also lead to situations where they "learn the hard way", or "learn by experience". The problem with doing that when running a water system is that learning the hard way can affect your customers, cause health problems, or put you at a safety risk.
There's Also Murphy's Law To Deal With
Wayne (the instructor) asked the attendees to think about when problems generally occur with their systems. Is it on a Monday morning when everyone is at work ready to go, or is it on a holiday, or the day after you've left for vacation and left the system in the hands of your young, new operator-in-training? Everyone nodded, understanding his point, and everyone could think to a situation where some problem had occurred at a really bad time. Which is exactly why you and your staff always need to ask why.
Knowledge Is King
It's not enough to know the basic tasks involved with running your water system, "Bob said to add a gallon to the tank after every backwash cycle and I wouldn't have to worry about anything else." You need to know why you are adding that chemical, what it does, what will happen if you don't, and what will happen if you spill it. Everyone who might be assisting you needs to understand your system as well as you do, so that if something goes wrong, or a valve sticks, or a pump fails, or the line gets pinched, it won't become a major event that risks the health of your customers or the safety of you and your staff. Taking shortcuts leads to losing your understanding of both the system and why the guidelines are there in the first place.
Protect Yourself
Most safety hazards can be managed with training and by following safety guidelines on proper handling, use, storage, maintenance, and disposal. Most accidents occur when these things aren't followed. If you can't follow the proper procedures because of the cost, have a TA provider come to your board meeting to explain what the costs might be should a preventable accident actually occur (can you say lawsuit?). Wayne told a really sad story about an operator that was installing pipe and didn't use a trench box for just the last section of pipe. It cost him his life. It was a totally avoidable accident caused by being in a hurry.
Some Safety Guidelines Are Overkill
There are reasons for all of the safety measures you are expected to follow as an operator. Some might seem ridiculous, but the reality is that they are there for a reason, and many times someone before you learned the hard way that its not so ridiculous after all. After hearing the things that Wayne has seen over the last 30 or so years, the operators who have died or been seriously hurt in avoidable accidents, I would recommend following every safety precaution and guideline that was provided for me. No guidelines are overkill.